The Pearl: A Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great's Russia

Setting the stage by giving the contrasting lives prior to their first meeting, certainly prepares the ground for the thesis that this was not a match made in heaven. We have a member of the extreme top one percent (in today's jargon) and Friday (her name in Russian through the Greek) - his Gal Friday! - is bottom what? Ten percent? She is his property. This reminds me of the situation Thomas Jefferson had with his slave (and cousin) Sally Hemings - the mother of most of his surviving children. Upstairs / Downstairs merges. Granted the situation with serfs was much different in many ways from American slavery - though my understanding of how things ran with  Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power  estate were certainly better by far than the rule. And the same differences were there in Russia as well since it was up to the individual owner how people were treated. A fascinating part of the book concerns the Thieving Magpie - a serf singer much like Friday that was sold as part of the troupe on the death of the owner who was going to give them all their freedom. The new owner was a letch that was furious with rejection and the singer resigned herself to death. Contrast this with the presumption that Friday loved Nicholas. Or did she? Even Nicholas writes that she was more in love with Matrimony than with him. But this book describes an incredible economics. While in my book group one friend said it reminded her of War and Peace, I replied it reminded me more of Woody Allen's  Love and Death ! Picture hundreds of carriages taking all the servants, food, and a wagon full of clothes for them from one estate to another so they could attend the coronation. Seeing something like that would put me more in mind of a straight faced Woody Allen clearly communicating the hysterical behaviors of the rich while people were starving around them. Another thing this book reminded me of was  Europe's Physician: The Various Life of Theodore de Mayerne  - from a century earlier - and the fight among physicians to introduce chemicals as part of health. The health issues among the rich and how they were treated, with leeches, bloodletting, Spanish fly, milk baths, seem a horrid approach. Were things better in France? George Washington probably died from such care. All in all, this was a slow book to attract my interest but a fast read, so the interesting things came up pretty quickly once I got into it. Thanks to the Internet, and most of the sites in the book are still there and museums with web sites, you can follow along in the book while looking at what the places look like today. I am glad I read it, though I admit I was hesitant to get started.

The book presents a fascinating aspect of Russian history and I would recommend it to those interested in such subject. It deals with the family history of Count Boris Sheremetev, General during the Thirty-Year War, who won the Poltava Battle for Peter the Great. The book centers on the romance of Nicholas Sheremetev (Boris' grandson) with one of his serf women, who he married later in life, and the scandal such a union caused in the circles of Imperial Russia during Catherine the Great, especially the stigma such a union caused to the future Sheremetev heirs. For obvious reasons, it is a sad story, but interesting nonetheless because of the impact the family had on developing the future of opera, ballet and theater in Russia, the precursors also of the Bolshoi Ballet in modern times. Nobody recommended this book to me ... I came across it by accident while browsing the internet in search of books on the Pushkin palaces and the Tretyakov Gallery. Highly recommended for those interested in a little-known piece of Russian history. The book was delivered in perfect condition and on time by seller, who I also recommend.

The title and the cover's description lead one to expect a biographical story of the love story between the Pearl, Praskovia Kovalyova (the Count's mistress and later wife) and Count Nicholas Sheremetev which occurred during an exciting time in Russian history, the time of Catherine the Great. However, the author admits there is little information about this love affair and actually spends most of the book describing the Count's theaters, operas, and dazzling homes. The author even spends a few chapters describing things that bear little relationship to the so-called love story. There is very little information, in fact, about the Pearl, after whom the book is title. Quite misleading!However, well researched the book, the love story is still to be told.Disappointing book.

A wonderful account of a story of considerable historical significance. Many books touch lightly on the subject, but Smith gives us the detail we need to appreciate what happened.

I loved 'Former People' and got this as a follow on but found it too based on maybe, perhaps, could have happened, it's possible. There was insufficient concrete fact about The Pearl and I found the continual assumptions irritating.

I loved this book! As a student of Russian Literature over thirty ago, this wonderful novel offered me an opportunity to revisit the beautiful and complex history of Zsarist Russia. The story was compelling, and I found myself unable to put it down. The attention to historical detail, which was obviously very well researched, brought the beauty and grandeur of that unique time and nation vividly to life. I learned a great deal about the Russian theatre and it's importance in the evolution of theatre as we know it today. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves history, and a good love story.

One of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. Really makes the characters and the period come alive.If y

Very well documented, very well written..........I really enjoyed this book and the subject it is not commonly known.....

I am of Russian origin, from St Petersburg, a historian specialising in the 18th century. As such, I found that the book contains many factual errors, and analysis of and comments on characters and events are debatable. As an exciting love story for a Western reader who does not know anything about Russia and 18th century - it is possibly OK. As an academic research and reliable secondary source - it is not.

I truly enjoyed Smith's latest book Former People. Tremendously fresh and painful story with strong characters who were trying to survive in a society that loathed them. The Pearl us a gripping and upsetting story about a forbidden love affair between a high aristocrat and his serf. Beautifully told and incredibly sad.

It arrived in perfect condition (just in time for me to start reading it for classes awhile ago haha), is as advertised, and came pretty quickly. Would strongly recommend.In terms of the content, it's fairly easy to read, wasn't expecting it to be something similar to but not really a historical narrative, but more of an annotated bibliography of some sort with a lot of "She must've thought this," or "maybe she was feeling like this because of this, but we don't really know" sort of deal. Other than that it was pretty interesting to read, not that difficult, but not something I'd super enjoy.Provided a lot of information and perspective to serf theater though, and Russian culture at that time. Interesting.